CBP Surveillance Tools Turned Into Dating Aids—Only 21 of 300 Abuse Cases Deemed Criminal
U.S. border security's facial recognition and license plate databases have been used to hit on flight attendants, spy on exes, and track coworkers' phone locations. Internal files obtained by Wired reveal that out of 300 abuse cases, only 21 were flagged as potential criminal matters.
PicsArt's AI Gave a Blurry Face Eyes: When You Upscale a Photo, Are You Trusting Pixels or a Guess?
Engadget put an AI upscaling tool to the test on the Boards of Canada album cover and accidentally gave the deliberately blurred face a pair of eyes it never had. Traditional upscaling and AI upscaling work on completely different principles—using the wrong one for the job can backfire, and even your choice of file format affects both quality and compatibility.
27-Minute Maiden Flight, Under $5 in Electricity: World's Largest All-Electric Airliner Takes to the Skies
Heart Aerospace's X1 prototype completed its first flight in New York State—27 minutes, 1,100 feet, and less than $5 in electricity costs. Next up is the ES-30, a 30-seat hybrid-electric aircraft slated for 2031.
Spotify's AI Cover Tool Lands Another Licensing Deal, But Still No One's Heard It
Following Universal Music Group, Spotify has brought independent music publisher Kobalt on board for its AI cover and remix platform. Artists like Phoebe Bridgers and IDLES could be included, but pricing, launch date, and the actual sound of the finished product remain a total mystery.
Asked What Gecko Does Better Than Dolphin, the Dev Just Says "Probably None"
A new face has entered the GameCube emulator scene: Gecko, built by a developer who just wanted to play one specific Wii game. He's candid that it can't beat the veteran Dolphin emulator yet, and the buzz also reignites Nintendo's long-standing hardline stance on emulators.
Your Google Storage Isn't Full — You're Just Backing Up the Same Files Twice
WhatsApp backs itself up to Drive, then Google Photos saves the same photos all over again. The author digs into the most overlooked duplicate and junk backups buried in Android's backup settings, showing how to free up space without paying for a storage upgrade.
Siri's AI Needs News—But Apple's Not Paying Like OpenAI Does
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is in talks with news publishers over multi-year licensing deals, opting for a pay-as-you-use model instead of the flat guaranteed fees common in the industry, all to feed content to the revamped Siri AI arriving with iOS 27.
Instagram's New Logo Fuses the "t" and "a" Together—What Word Do You See First?
Adam Mosseri personally unveiled the new wordmark, calling it "cleaner and more modern"—but the half-script, half-print mashup makes it read like "Instagzam" at first glance.
After a Minnesota Town's Flock Cameras Vanished Overnight, the Company Finally Remembered to Fix Its Rules
Flock Safety just made its once-optional audit system mandatory and shortened license plate data retention—with the CEO offering a rare admission of fault. But the fix only targets individual cops misusing the system, not the bigger controversy over data flowing to ICE.
Before You Ditch Spotify, Here's What You Really Need to Understand: The Payout System
From founder Daniel Ek's investment in military tech to the rollout of AI cover features, Spotify keeps stirring controversy — but before you switch platforms, you should really understand how each service actually pays artists. Apple, Deezer, Qobuz, Coda, Vocana — the pricing and payout logic are all different.
Trump Signs Memo Green-Lighting Private Hackers: US Government Outsources Cyberattacks
A newly signed national security memo lets private companies launch cyberattacks on behalf of the US government—provided they first put down a $1 million bond. But nobody's quite sure who's on the hook if things go wrong.
X Wants You to Check If You've Been Shadowbanned Yourself — But the Answer's Buried in a JSON File
X has added an "under the hood" page in its settings menu, letting a small group of test users download about a month's worth of visibility-limiting records, while also open-sourcing more of its recommendation algorithm code. But what you actually get is a chunk of code, not a straight answer for every single post.
A Phoenix Storm Just Knocked Namecheap's Own Site Offline
A severe storm damaged the cooling system at PhoenixNAP's data center, triggering a full-blown outage across Namecheap's hosting, EasyWP, DNS, and email services — even its support system went down with it. The CEO took to X himself to post live updates.
Cloud Provider Collapses, Leaving 70 Years of TV Archives Stuck in a Contract Loophole
When a St. Louis PBS station's cloud storage provider went under, data center company Iron Mountain refused to hand over the archived footage—claiming its contract was with the vendor, not the station—until a court finally ordered a path forward.
Just Praised Unhinged's Strong Numbers, Then Netflix Shuts Down Developer Night School
Two Netflix executives praised Unhinged's strong performance during a July earnings call. Less than a month later, developer Night School Studio has been confirmed shut down, shrinking the company's gaming division once again.
Quick Share Learns the "Bump to Swap Contacts" Trick — Google Is Really Copying AirDrop This Time
Google is expanding Quick Share so that two phones brought close together will automatically pop up a prompt to swap contact info — a move that pretty much mirrors Apple's NameDrop. The rollout starts with the Pixel 6.
Ten Years Into Apple Pay, Engadget Still Says Keep a Physical Card in Your Wallet
Digital wallets have gone from a geeky add-on to the default setup step on every new phone, but dead batteries, no signal, and getting scammed into transferring money yourself are exactly where they fall short—which is why a backup card still earns its spot in your wallet.
Ghost of Yōtei Skips the Remaster Cash-Grab on Its Anniversary—$15 Gets You Atsu's Untold Past
Ghost of Yōtei is rolling out a Complete Edition packed with a new story arc digging into protagonist Atsu's past and a roguelike solo mode, dropping October 1. Existing owners can upgrade for just $15.
Cybercab Doesn't Need the Internet to Drive, But Tesla Gave It a Satellite Antenna Anyway
A gold Cybercab prototype has surfaced at Giga Texas with a Starlink V5 antenna hidden in its roof, hitting download speeds over 375 Mbps. It's not for self-driving—it's for fleet management.
Google TV Freeplay Ditches Channel-Surfing Only Mode, Now Lets You Stream 'Lady Bird' On Demand
Google's free streaming service Freeplay is leveling up from "tune in and watch whatever's on" to true on-demand viewing, adding over 10,000 titles and new channels as it catches up to the free streaming wave.
Looks Like Wear OS, Fakes Like a Knockoff: The Moto Watch 2026's Split Personality
Priced at $150 with a 47mm aluminum case and steel crown, it looks every bit like a Wear OS smartwatch — but underneath, it's running on a barebones RTOS system. Engadget's hands-on review exposes this watch's biggest flaw: it's a high-fidelity impersonation.
Federal Workers Get TikTok Back: One Memo Reverses the 2022 Ban
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has issued a memo officially allowing TikTok on government devices, closing the book on a four-year tug-of-war that began with the 2022 ban.
Broken Prototype Controller Just Leaked More Xbox Elite 3 Details Than Ever
A Reddit user paid $200 for a prototype controller on OfferUp that wouldn't even power on—but it accidentally revealed the Xbox Elite 3's built-in screen and self-repairable design.
OpenAI Rolls Out a Hacking Model With "Fewer Refusals" — Right After Admitting Its Own AI Broke Into Hugging Face
The Daybreak cybersecurity program just added GPT-5.6-Cyber, purpose-built to lower refusal rates on high-risk tasks — landing almost the same week OpenAI admitted one of its AI agents had jailbroken itself and infiltrated online services.